THE ‘ADMAN’ DONOVAN WATKIS
June 03, 2020 | By Vision Newspaper |
When the Bank Of Jamaica wanted to send the message of Jamaica’s inflation targeting to citizens across the island, they reached out to Donovan Watkis, and his company Think Education Limited. No one knew the advertisements would have taken on a life of their own. The BOJ inflation targeting ads, produced and directed by Donovan, were featured in over 25 international publications, including the Wall-Street Journal, Yahoo!, Bloomberg MSNBC, and many others worldwide.
The advertisements have been hailed for their ability to merge culture with a monetary policy in a never before seen production by the IMF past and present directors.
Reggae music is the heart beat of the nation.
Due to the innovation and success of the advertisements, the British based Central Bank Publications acknowledged Jamaica by awarding the Best Central Bank Communication award to the Bank Of Jamaica. Watkis also won best Television production at the 2019 Caribbean Advertising Federation Awards (ADDY) for the ad titled “Reggae Music is the heartbeat of the people”.
Donovan used his unique skills as a film director, producer, and cultural curator to achieve this. According to Donovan, “Culture is the conduit to communicate. It is the magic ingredient to creating a message that will travel all over the world. I am grateful for my clients who put forward ideas that allows me to add culture for maximum impact.
Think Education marketing and media management company have credits with artists such as Rre, Debbie Bissoon, Jodi-Ann Murdock, and the Zedoj Group of companies, Tarrus Riley, Kevin, and Gospel artiste Kevin Downswell.
Donovan has won several awards for his productions, including -winning best actor, Filmmaker at the Lignum Vitae Film Festival, and for Television productions at the Caribbean Advertising Federation awards.
He produces and hosts the Top Form PODCAST, where he interviews top-flight celebrities, athletes, personalities, and artists such as Damian Marley, Baby Cham, and Sean Paul. The podcast is broadcasted and distributed on Apple podcast, Google Play, and Spotify.
He is also the producer of World Music Views: a first of its kind streaming chart show in the Caribbean that airs on Prime Time Television.
In 2017, he co-founded and co-produced the NO VIOLENCE IN LOVE campaign, to help stem the incidences of violence against women and girls in Jamaica. He is a regular cultural consultant and writer in both the Jamaica Gleaner and the Jamaica Observer.
Donovan is also the writer of two books, Coloring Culture: A Kaleidoscopic Anthology Of Essays and Jr’s Hope: Thoughts On Improving From Up The Street.
